Vulnerability. That's a scary word. Voice work is vulnerability; creating a reveal of the best version of you. People tend to get themselves in trouble by creating vulnerability within their voice the wrong way. Listen to today's episode to find out how you can use vulnerability in your voice to your advantage.

We make every decision based on every tone we process - consciously and subconsciously - based on what we hear in your voice.

Vulnerability is not about information. I see it everywhere. What I hear people doing is revealing detail with their words but wearing so many masks with their voice. They have this incorrect idea that they have to reveal detail or extreme emotion in order to get people to feel something. That couldn't be further from the truth. Vulnerability is not about the deep, dark, dirty secrets of your life. Think about the people you think of as vulnerable speakers: you don't know the minutia. There are some things that are shared as a choice, but not out of necessity, to connect with your audience.

I believe there are elements of our stories that are key or essential in telling, but we don't have to dive deep into every single secret. Ask yourself: does this benefit or serve your audience? Vulnerability is not about what you share but how you share it. What becomes the problem and what we have to analyze when we want to become vulnerable is what are we trying to hide behind? Which voice masks are you utilizing to keep you "safe"? Are you 100% revealing who you truly are by using your voice? Maybe the need to get it right? People pleasing? Control? Not allowing people in? Most of your masks or bad voice habits are learned by the time you are two and it's not always due to trauma. These masks can manifest in many different ways and tones in your voice. They're subtle but they're everything; your audience is processing them subconsciously and it prevents us from truly connecting with you as if it were bulletproof glass keeping you at arms' length. Your voice is the most vulnerable tool that you have. When people know who you are, they let you in. People can feel it when you're not letting them in or when you're not being vulnerable with your voice.

Until next time, you know what to do. Get out there and speak your truth, just do it beautifully.